1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, an authentication method, a computer readable storage medium storing a program for carrying out the authentication method, and the program itself that are used for an application having a security function capable of setting, e.g., a user password for every cabinet and for a user authentication function of an operating system or of a device.
2. Related Background Art
A “cabinet” for efficiently retaining and managing data has hitherto been provided in, for example, a digital complex device having a function of scanning a text and retaining the text data in a storage area within the device and in a file system structured to retain and manage the text data and files by booting a predetermined processing program on a computer.
The cabinet is also referred to as a box or a folder, etc., and can be regarded as a logical data storage area having an arbitrary directory structure.
Further, the cabinet is structured so that user authentication information (which will hereinafter simply be also termed “authentication information”) can be set per cabinet in order to assure the confidentiality of the data to be retained and managed in the cabinet.
In a device or system including the cabinet, however, the user is, when utilizing the cabinet, required to input the authentication information each time the user utilizes (accesses) the cabinet, and to store a plurality of different pieces of authentication information for every cabinet.
Such being the case, for obviating problems derived from the time-consuming operations described above, there were contrived, for instance, a method of taking an operational solution such as using the authentication information set for the cabinets in a way that unifies these pieces of authentication information in all the cabinets, and a method of utilizing a technique known as so-called single sign-on (SSO).
For example, according to the method utilizing the single sign-on technique, the user inputs the authentication information once and is enabled to, after the user authentication has been performed, access the cabinet in which the same authentication information is set without again inputting the authentication information. With this scheme, the user can omit the time-consuming procedure of inputting the authentication information for every cabinet and has no necessity of storing plural pieces of authentication information. Accordingly, the usability for the user can be enhanced.
In the conventional device or system having the cabinet described above, however, if the operational solution of unifying the authentication information set for the cabinets is adopted, then if an operation rule is required to be thoroughly known by all the users enabled to set the authentication information for the cabinets, then the need to know this additional information reduces the improvement in usability in spite of the unified authentication information. In addition, the unified authentication information is set for all the cabinets, and hence it is difficult to assure the confidentiality of the unified authentication information, resulting in a problem that confidentiality of the contents of the cabinets is substantially degraded.
On the other hand, for applying the SSO technique, the device or system such as the existing and already-introduced-to-the-user digital complex device or file system having the cabinet, cannot be utilized as it is and needs to be replaced with a newly-developed model or a new version in order to be adapted to the device or system utilizing the predetermined SSO technique. The introduction of the above-mentioned new model or new version imposes a new burden in terms of cost and management extensively as well upon the user.
For example, it is generally difficult to transfer the setting of the authentication information in the device or system such as the existing digital complex device or file system having the cabinet, and it follows that the user is forced to perform time-consuming operations such as resetting the authentication information and transferring the data retained and managed in the cabinet.
Further, a design of the device or system such as the digital complex device or file system having the cabinet, depends on specifications of the device or system to which the specified SSO technique is applied, and it is therefore difficult to provide the user with flexible product specifications.